The Heartless Mermaid
by Ezellia
Summary: Prince Zexion was saved from drowning by the bluest eyes he'd ever seen and he wants to see them again. Demyx, the Mer-Prince of Atlantis, will do anything to see the legged-one again. His cousin Roxas can't let him go alone. Dexion Akuroku
1. Fateful Night

CHAPTER 1- FATEFUL NIGHT

Larxene rested her elbow on the arm rest upon the armrest of her throne, chin in hand. She groaned loudly, flicking her yellow tail sharply in annoyance. She waited another moment or so, drumming her fingertips along the limestone throne built in the center of the Atlantic Cathedral, and she saw her younger cousin swimming through the opening in the underwater volcano. She waited for his approach, running a hand over the bright yellow scales of her tail. Her sea shell bra was pinching her back.

Roxas ran a hand through unruly blond spikes, swimming up to present himself before his cousin who currently held the throne until her younger brother came of age.

"You called?" Roxas drolled, the apparent lack of respect clearly absent form his voice.

Larxene rolled her eyes, not bothering with the chastising of her cousin. "Where's my brother?"

Roxas thought for a moment. By the time the answer came to him, he was already lying through his teeth. "I assume he is somewhere around the castle?"

Larxene frowned. "Are you lying to me Roxas?" Pushing off against the throne, Larxene moved dangerously close to her cousin, taking his chin in her hand to tilt his eyes up to meet hers. "If he's collecting more landlubber junk again and you're covering for him, I swear I'll chop you up, boil you, and feed you to the sharks." She whispered through a dark smile.

Roxas squirmed uncomfortably. He was a brave, spitfire filled little merman for his size, but he was not ashamed to admit that his cousin Larxene scared him shitless. She was even scarier when it came to the legged ones upon the grass.

Though it was tight knit secret that had never once passed Larxene's lips before (Roxas somehow knew, as he knew everything), the mermaid princess had at one point fallen in love with a legged one she had met a few times when she stepped on land once, disguised as a legged one. Though mermaids did have fish tails, they could disguise themselves as humans for a single day every twenty years. Larxene had indulged her curiosity of the world opposite theirs, and had fallen in love with a legged one in the span of a day. When she revealed to him her tail, she was cruelly abandoned by him shortly after. Since then, it would be an understatement to say that the crown princess was quite bitter.

"No ma'am, he's somewhere here in the castle no doubt." Roxas lied again, backing up ever so slightly."

Larxene frowned. "Fine, I believe you. Now go find him." She deadpanned, waving Roxas away.

"Demyx?"

A flicker of a tail, bright yellow scales sparkling in what little sunlight was able to reach through the black waters to the bed of the ocean. Leaves of seaweed parted aside under the force of the waters as the scales sparkled again.

"Demyx?"

Demyx strummed away at his sitar, long delicate fingers playing with the thing strings. He hummed gently along with his tune, large blue eyes closed, ears ignorant against the calling of his cousin.

"DEMYX!" Roxas screamed this time, wrestling against the seaweed that tugged at his wrists. Demyx jolted upwards, looking over at his cousin trying to struggle through the seaweed patch that surrounded his bed of bare rock and sand. It was a comical sight, seeing the little flustered blond pulling against the seaweed wrapped around his wrists.

Demyx set down his sitar, flicking his tail to send him cutting through the water over to his cousin. His smirk wide, he watched Roxas struggle against green vegetation for a moment.

Roxas looked up from his predicament to the smirk on Demyx's face. "HELP?"

Demyx bit his lip to keep from laughing as he pulled Roxas free. "Smooth Roxas."

"Shut up." The smaller merman mumbled, crossing his arms.

"Aw, don't be sad Rox. Be glad!" Demyx threw his arms wide in his comical way, earning him nothing more than a raised eyebrow from his cousin. Reaching out, he plucked a piece of seaweed from Roxas' sunshine locks, flicking it to the side. "Come here, I want to show you something!" Taking his cousin's hand, Demyx flicked his tail, pulling Roxas along with him with enough force to pull his arm out of his socket. As he dragged Roxas past the rock, he scooped up his sitar in one swift motion, ducking through the rock gardens and the seaweed.

Twelve years ago, when Demyx was four, he had discovered a small undersea volcano. No longer active, the inside was hollow, making it a perfect secret hideout for the curious merpup. A perfect place to store his precious treasures.

"Demyx- ow! Let go of my arm!" Roxas yelled, ripping his arm away from his cousin's grip. "Demyx, you got even more landlubber junk than you had before." Roxas placed his hands on his hips, looking around the inside shelves of the volcano with disapproval.

The handmade shelves that lined the walls of the volcano was cluttered with landlubber treasures. Mostly junk that Demxy had collected from around sunken ships, or treasure floating at sea that had been washed overboard in a storm. Demyx gently placed his sitar down on a separate shelf, the foreign blue instrument was by far his most favorite treasure of his growing collection.

"Isn't this great? I found it last week!" Demyx grabbed a shining object off the nearest shelf. He swam over to Roxas, dropping it in his outstretched hands.

"It's the ugliest thing I've ever seen in my life." Roxas deadpanned, exactly what he said about every trophy that Demyx deposited in his cousin's hands to show off. Taking it in both hands, Roxas gave it a scrutinizing look. Seeing Demyx's pout, Roxas sighed, divulging the information his cousin craved. "It's called a cup." Roxas griped it in one hand. "They drink from it."

Holding it a bit too tightly, the delicate white object shattered in Roxas' hands, cutting through his palm.

"Ow! Shit!" Roxas hissed. He glared at his hand and the long cut right through the middle, blood oozing from the pale skin to mix into the water. Tongue darting out, Roxas ran the tip of his tongue along the slice in his hand, the bleeding ceasing near immediately.

"You have to be delicate Roxas! Delicate!" Demyx poked his cousin to emphasize his point, leaning down to pick up the shattered pieces of his treasure. "Man. That's the fourth one you've broken this month."

"Demyx, this is stupid and dangerous." Roxas folded his arms, flicking his tail at the treasures that sparkled around the walls. "If your sister found you collecting this stuff, he'd completely flip on you."

"I'm the crown prince, Larxene can't do shit." Demyx shrugged, depositing the shattered treasure on the shelf where it was once whole. "I'm the future of his whole kingdom." Demyx rolled his eyes, swimming up to his cousin to rest his chin on Roxas' shoulder.

"There's always your other cousins."

"Like you?"

"I'm not inheriting the goddamn kingdom." Roxas rolled his eyes. "And I stand by my prior statement." He folded his arms across his chest, ducking out from Demyx's chin to lean against a nearby wall. "If Larxene finds out. she'll feed you to the sharks." Roxs nodded in agreement with himself.

"Well, yes." Demyx purred. Gliding closer to his cousin through the water, he pressed his hands against the sea wall on either side of his cousin's head, pressing closer to Roxas, who backed up against the wall, his cheeks red. "And YOU won't tell her about it, right?" He pressed his lips against the outside of Roxas' ear, whispering darkly.

Roxas blushed, averting his eyes. "Ugh, yeah, right..."

"You swore not to tell anyone." Demyx whispered, pressing up against Roxas. "And you remember the penalty for breaking your promise, right?"

"Yes, yes, I know!" Roxas yelled, pressing his hands against Demyx's bare chest to try and push him away. "Back off, okay? I swear not to tell anyone!"

Roxas and Demyx had been best friends since they were merpups. Roxas was Demyx's cousin, the same age. His parents had been killed by sharks when he was five, barely escaping with his own life. The two royal bloods had been good friends since they were small.

Demyx chuckled, licking Roxas' cheek just to tease his cousin. He immediately swam away with a loud laugh, Roxas hot on his tail, when a loud thunderclap rang through the air. Both mermen's gaze immediately snapped up to the sky, quickly darkened by black storm clouds. Imediately, Demyx cut through the water to the opening in the top of the volcano opening, staring up at the sky. On such a fateful night, Demyx saw another bolt of lightening illuminate the sky far above, and the bottom hull of a large ship.

The promise of new landlubber treasures never failed to tempt the merprince as he propelled himself upwards towards the surface of the water.

"Demyx!" Roxas screamed after his cousin. "Get back here!" Clenching his fist he propelled himself through the same opening where Demyx had gone with a stream of swears spewing from his mouth as he chased after his cousin.

Zexion leaned his back up against the railing of the ship, his face tilted upwards towards the darkening sky. He sighed, tossing his silver goblet of rum over the edge of the ship.

"Zexion, babe, have some fun!" Axel yelled. His cheeks were tinted a bright red from the influence of alcohol. Leaning up against the railing next to his cousin, a cup of god only knows what kind of mixture of alcohol in his hand. Leaning back, he took a large swig, breaking out into unprecedented laughter.

"Axel." Zexion glared down at the deck of the ship, rubbing his eyes and trying to ignore the dancing, screaming, and drinking of the party held in honor of the crown prince's sixteenth birthday. "You are royalty. Act like it." He ground out the last part between gritted teeth.

"It's your birthday party." Axel swooned, his balance faltering ever so slightly as he stood perfectly still. Even with the anchor down, the boat rocked uneasily. "Would it kill you to act a bit happier?"

"Yes, it just might." Zexion shrugged. "In the event that I'm happier, I may get drunk. In that event, I leave myself open to an assassination. In such case that I'm killed, you stand to inherit the kingdom as my closest cousin." Zexion shook his head, giving his cousin a sideways look. "For the good of mankind, there is no way in hell I could let that happen.""

Axel rolled his eyes, eying a sexy young duke across the deck. He licked his lips. When Zexion gave him a confused look he shrugged. "I'd tap that."

Zexion gave his cousin a disgusted look. "Is there anyone you WOULDN'T "tap"?"

Axel thought for a moment. "You."

"Hallelujah to that..." Zexion muttered. His comment seemed to go unnoticed by his intoxicated cousin.

"But, you know, I'd like, like a..." Axel hiccuped. "A really sweet kid... not some...whore after the royal life... but like, ya know..." Axel frowned, taking another swig. "A shy, sweet kid who'd abandon anything for me, and vice versa. Someone with big blue eyes and a nice little ass. Someone with a sweet personality. A shy, sweet kid. Someone with big clue eyes and a nice little ass." Axel drolled, mind drifting off into space.

"Axel! Axel, focus!" Zexion yelled, snapping his fingers impatiently in Axel's face in an attempt to keep his attention. It was quite a pity. His closest cousin, Axel Flynn, was one of the most desired dukes of the royal family. He was twenty one, tall, handsome, thin, strong, pushy, but a nice personality. Rumored to be good in bed... Such a pity he was gay.

"Ahhhhh..." Axel sighed, dropping onto the deck with a thump. The boy he'd been eying across the deck had walked off with some chick that Axel had seen around his cousin's castle every now and then. "I wanna pound someone into a mattress."

Zexion pretended to silently gag, dropping down onto the ground next to his cousin. Though he was supposedly the star of the party, he easily went ignored with his silent and anti social demeanor. The only person who he could always count on to be around him was Axel, whether he liked it or not. His parents were gone, he had no siblings, and no way in hell could he possibly have a significant other. Zexion was simply different. The near opposite of his redheaded cousin, he didn't have many friends, nor had he ever had a lover. He'd just never met anyone his "type".

"So." Axel hiccuped, running a hand through gravity defying spikes of hair. "You're the big sixteen!" Another hiccup. "S'bout time you get married ain't it?"

Zexion groaned loudly, his head falling back to the sky. The blue was completely covered by the dark gray of storm clouds. An ominous thunderclap rang through the sky but the party went undisturbed aboard the deck of the ship. Minstrels played on their lutes and guitars, drunken party goers of the royal court swinging and dancing, screaming and drinking. Exactly the kind of party Zexion hated.

"Hey, Ax, you wanna hear something funny? The crown prince asked, pulling his cloak tighter about him as the wind picked up. Standing, he turned to face the ocean, resting his elbows on the railing, his chin in his hands.

"Maybe." The redhead slurred, moving to mirror his cousin's position beside him. Around them, raindrops began to patter onto the wood of the deck.

Zexion sighed. "I want a husband. Not a wife."

Axel seemed rather nonchalant about his cousin's sudden exit from the closet of homosexuality. "Dude, how long do you think I've been waiting for you to tell me that you're gay?"

"From the reaction, I'm assuming you've waited a while." Zexion shrugged.

"Dude, we've gotta go out into town and find you a hot piece of ass!" Axel turned, tossing his arms out wide. In his serious intoxication, he didn't seem to notice how he had smacked his cousin square in the back, vaulting him overboard.

With a yelp, Zexion fell forward into the water, immediately being swallowed by the churning waves of the sea as another thunderclap rang out loudly.

"Zexion?" Axel looked around with an eyebrow raised. "Zexion?" Looking over the railing, he saw a shadow sinking into the depths of the storm churned waves and a ripple spreading outwards across the blue waves turning black in the night.

"ZEXION! MAN OVERBOARD!"

Demyx ignored Roxas' screams for him to stop, zooming through the black water, intent upon finding more treasures. He was examining a silver something that he'd found sinking into his depths when a certain heavy something came floating down to knock against the merman's back.

He was beautiful. A gentle, delicate legged one. He wore fine, black silk clothing and a black cloak that swirled around the both of them. He had fine silk lilac hair. Demyx barely had a chance to look into those bright, beautiful eyes before they closed, the final stream of bubbles escaping from the legged one's mouth ceasing as he stopped flailing, losing consciousness.

Demyx immediately dropped the silver treasure. Eyes wide, he reached out hesitantly, taking the legged one his arms. What was he doing so far down into the ocean?

"Demyx, we're too close to land-" Roxas finally caught up with Demyx. Taking a deep breath,  
>he finally took notice of what Demyx was carrying. "DEMYX!" He pointed to the lilac haired one. "Where the hell did you get that?"<p>

"He fell on me!" Demyx yelled, holding up his hands in innocence, letting Zexion slip from his grasp down farther. Yelping, Demyx quickly grabbed the legged one again, holding him close. He looked down at the legged one's closed eyes and perfect skin, then back up at Roxas. "His heart is beating, but he's not breathing!" Demyx put his ear close to the legged one's mouth, blushing ever so lightly.

Roxas reached out, placing a hand over the legged one's heart and one just above his mouth. "Come on, take him to the surface!"

Demyx wrapped his arms around the legged one, dragging the unconscious heap behind him as Roxas lead them both towards the closest land, which was not that far away. Moving quickly, both boys allowed the current to drag them up onto the beach. Demyx laid the legged one down, flicking his tail uselessly against the sand as he realized the legged one was still not breathing.

"Rox, he's not breathing! What do we do? Please help him! Rox!"

"Uh, okay, think Rox, think... I read about this in a book somewhere..." Roxas flicked his tail in annoyance, sending sand flying with every thump. Fisting his hand, he brought to repeatedly hit against his forehead, literally trying to beat out the answer that he knew was there. "AHA!" He yelled.

"What?"

Roxas leaned forward, placing both hands over the legged one's heart. He pressed down once, twice, thrice. "Damnit, this is stupid! This is so stupid!" He hissed, repeating the process. "I can't believe I'm doing this, your sister would kill me!" Roxas looked up to his cousin. "If Larxene kills me because of this-!"

"Roxas, just, please, help him! Please, please, please!" Demyx's tail slapped against the ground.

"I'm working on it!" Roxas snapped. Reaching out, he grabbed one of Demyx's hands, placing it over the legged one's nose. "Pinch his nose!" As soon as Demyx did so, Roxas reached out. Grabbing the back of Demyx's head, he forced the merman's face down, his lips crashing with the legged one's. "Blow!"

"MMMMMMPPPHHHHH?"

"BLOW, DAMN YOU!" Roxas yelled again. If he didn't love his cousin so much he wouldn't be doing this. He had no interest in helping a legged person, but damn, he loved his cousin! But damn, he was not gonna do the mouth-to-mouth part, no matter how gay or how much he loved his cousin.

Demyx turned a bright red, but blew as hard as he could into the the legged one's mouth. The sensation of what he considered his first kiss slowly subsided, just before the lilac haired boy threw up seawater in his mouth.

"Ah! Sick! EW EW EW EW EW!" Demyx spat the water from his own mouth onto the sand around choked coughs. Roxas chuckled a few times, and flipped the legged one onto his stomach for him to vomit the sea water out onto the sand.

Roxas sighed in relief. "He's fine." He looked up at his cousin. "Come on, our job is done, let's go." With a bit of effort, Roxas was able to pull himself back into the currents of the ocean.

Demyx looked to the spot where his cousin had jumped into the ocean. He was about to follow, when the legged one rolled over onto his back, with a groan, his eyes still closed. "Ugh..." He winced uncomfortably. "Axel.. I'm going to murder you..."

Demyx pulled himself over to the legged one's side, one two fingers pressed to his lips.

"Nnnn..." The legged one opened his eyes, staring straight up at Demyx.

Face red, the merman threw himself back into the crashing waters.


	2. Crooked Deals and Creepy Mermen

AN: Why was this chapter so long?

* * *

><p>Demyx rested his chin in his hands, his tail swishing back and forth absentmindedly. Drumming his fingers along the tabletop, he didn't notice the approaching of his cousin from behind.<p>

Leaning in as close to his cousin's ear as he dared to get, Roxas took a deep breath (through his gills). "WAAAH!"

Of course, underwater, there was the loss of what Roxas claimed to be "gravity". Merpeople had the tendency to be very buoyant as well, so falling downwards into the water was an unlikely result. Instead, Demyx introduced his face to the rock he'd had himself propped up upon prior with a yelp more girlish than Demyx would admit to.

"Demyx, what the hell is wrong with you?" Roxas sighed, moving closer to his cousin to sit in front of the table across from his cousin. He sat down with an unhappy grunt, dropping the book onto the table without much a care as to whether he damaged it or not. When he realized he had lost Demyx's very short attention span, he snapped his finger impatiently in the musician's face. "Demyx! Focus!"

"Hah?"

Roxas heaved a heavy sigh. Grabbing his book, he pushed away from the table. He froze in place suddenly, his sensitive ears twitching slightly.

"Roxas?" Demyx frowned. Swimming over the table to his cousin, he poked at his arm. "Where's the play button?"

"Get down!" Roxas hissed. One hand on the top of Demyx's head, he forced him down, shoving his cousin roughly beneath the table. Seconds after Demyx was forced painfully out of sight, the door to the palace room was hit open by Larxene's tail without even knocking first.

"WHERE THE HELL IS DEMYX?" Larxene shrieked, hitting the nearest object to her in frustration, which was one unfortunate merman who happened to be swimming past. He didn't complain, but sped right on outta there. Demyx flinched, squeezing tighter together beneath the table. Roxas always knew when she would come storming in.

"Er..." Roxas feigned confusion. "My lady? If I may suggest looking in the seaweed garden?" He held up his book to show the rather unhappy queen, hoping it would work well as a shield should she vent her anger upon him. "Demyx isn't here. I simply came to find a book."

"Then where is he?" Larxene shrieked again. "He's been missing all morning!"

"Ah, allow me to help you look..." Roxas continued spouting excuses and reports of fake sightings of said merprince somewhere far away from the table of invisibility, under which Demyx was shivering from the fear of what his life would be like without Roxas. He didn't dare to move until after the door was closed and Larxene's screams had been swallowed by the great distance between them. Shooting out from under the table, Demyx made a break for the closest exit from the palace.

* * *

><p>Demyx twirled the small flower between his fingers that he had plucked from the sand. He was hiding out form his PMS suffering older sister not far from the castle, in another secret place of his that was hidden from discovery by a dense surrounding of seaweed vegetation and dangerous rocky outcrops, that he found easily navigable to reach the center, where there was a single rock in the middle of the sand, small flowers growing in a circle around it. Now he lounged on the rock, staring dazedly off into the black waves of the ocean beyond.<p>

He would have liked to know the legged one's name. He had certainly been beautiful. More so than anyone he knew. Such delicate lips and beautiful lilac eyes. Satin hair and porcelain skin. Something that no merperson had. The beautiful legs, the beautiful skin, the silky hair, the delicate features. But... He would probably never see him again. At least, not for another four years, when Demyx was allowed one single day on land. And what did he expect? For the beautiful legged one to be waiting on the beach to fall in love with him? Yeah, sure. Just like in the fairy tales that he used to read.

Demyx wondered. Was it possible for someone to fall in love at first sight? He'd never loved anyone before... At least, not in the way that most people did. He was the prince, sixteen years old at that. It was about time that he found a mate. Any form of love was accepted between mer people, whether it be the usual male and female love, male and male love, or female and female love. But there was one exception. The love between one with fins and legs was strictly forbidden.

Demyx let the small flower drop from between his fingers with a quiet sigh.

"Sounds like someone's in love."

Demyx whipped around in the water, looking for the source of the voice. Something in the seaweed, something blue, struggled about, their face not clear. "Who's there?" Demyx asked curiously, not quite as intimidated or afraid as common sense would dictate. As Roxas often claims; "Common sense does not apply to Demyx." Demyx frowned at the merman in the seaweed. "Who are you?"

"Fucking seaweed..." The person grunted, and a blue merman ripped his way from the stubborn vegetation, a part of it still tangled around his wrist. "Hello Demyx, prince of Atlantis."

Demyx smiled at the blue merman. He had long blue hair and golden eyes, but the odd thing about him would be the X shaped scar smack dab in the middle of his face. The phrase "X marks the spot" immediately came to mind, but Demyx smartly kept that to himself. "Yeah, hi. I know who I am, so I'll ask again. Who are you?"

The merman finally managed to free himself, and approached Demyx purposefully, with a glare on his face, but expressionless eyes. Maybe his face froze like that. "My master thinks that you are..." The merman gave Demyx a look over once or twice, neither his expression or tone changing. "...troubled."

Demyx frowned. "Uh...okay... that, again, doesn't answer my question." Demyx flicked his tail, finally catching on to the possible danger that came from this man, and moved a bit farther back, positioning himself behind the rock. "I've never seen you around Atlantis before..." Atlantis consisted of an underwater kingdom, carved out of an abnormally large underwater volcano and a connecting fissure. The mer community wasn't exactly large.

The merman shrugged. "My name is Saix. My master and I are... not from around here..." He seemed to be choosing his words particularly carefully, speaking slowly and hesitantly. Anyone would have found that increasingly suspicious, but it seemed to slip past Demys with ease.

"So... Can I... help you?" Demyx raised an eyebrow, his guard falling ever so slightly.

"My master has a proposition for you..." Saix said coolly, seemingly more interested in his finger nails than delivering the actual message he'd been given.

"Who is your master?"

Saix frowned. "His name is not important... All that you need to know..." His eyes flickered up to meet with Demyx's. "Is that he can grant your wish." He smirked, turning back to his nails. "For a reasonable exchange." He ran a hand through his hair in a nonchalant fashion. "Interested?"

"How do you know about me?" Demyx glared in a scrutinizing way. "If you're not from around here."

Saix frowned. "That's not important..." He reached behind him, producing a brightly glowing blue stone. He held it out to Demyx. "Think it over, hm?" Demyx frowned at the rock, no larger than his own fist. It looked like something he'd simply grabbed from the ground. "It's a Guiding Stone." Saix chuckled. "Take it and squeeze it, and you'll know where to go when you make up your mind."

Demyx reached out hesitantly, taking the stone from Saix's hand, taking extra care for their hands not to touch. He cradled the warm feeling stone in his hand, the shine reflecting off his ocean blue eyes. "How-" He looked back up only to find the one called Saix to be gone.

Demyx looked back down at the stone in his hand. It glowed too beautifully. Unable to resist the dull shine, Demyx swam his way back to his secret storage, pondering where he would place the stone, perhaps next to the cutlery, or maybe the music box.

Saix curled his tail carefully around Xemnas' waist, draping himself over the gray merman's back, resting his chin on one shoulder, his arms draped over his shoulders. "I did just as you asked."

"I know." Xemnas deadpanned, his eyes focused on the black scribblings of a book he'd found in his library. Saix gave no reply, and he inwardly sighed. Reaching behind, Xemnas cupped Saix's cheek, not hesitating to crash their lips together sloppily, with an almost painful amount of unchecked force. The subordinate held no hesitation to comply with his reward, tongues wrestling together in an excessive show of compassion and thanks. When they finally broke apart, Saix seemed sated, though Xemnas seemed to crave more of the touch, which he would never admit.

"I need you to do one more thing for me and everything will be in place." Xemnas snapped shut the book, tossing it aside. The merman hanging over his shoulders truly didn't seem to bother him in the least.

"And the kid's heart is ours?" Saix asked, staring over his master's shoulder.

Xemnas shrugged. "He's already forfeited his fate." He gave Saix a sideways glance. "You gave him the stone?"

"You doubt me?" Saix almost seemed offended.

"Of course not." Xemnas held up a mirror, circular in shape with a bright golden frame. "I need you to memorize the way to this place from the palace." The surface of the mirror rippled, and began to zoom through the ocean, starting from the gates of the palace to the hideout where Demyx kept his greatest treasures. It took Saix one quick run through to memorize the route, the vast treasure trove reflecting in his golden eyes from the mirror. "Done." Xemnas nodded approvingly, running his delicate hand over the surface of the mirror. It rippled again, and displayed the image of Larxene. "Lead this woman there. In secret. Don't tell her who you are. Just say that it involves Demyx."

Saix nodded. "But master..." A frown. "What about his cousin? Roxas?"

"What about him?"

Sais shrugged. "He has a habit of knowing everything that he shouldn't."

"You think he knows about us?"

Saix gave his answer a moment or two of serious thought. "I'm sure he's heard. The King can erase our names, but not our memory. At least, not from that one."

Xemnas stared into the mirror, which had altered to show a picture of the blond sitting in the library, reading something with half lidded eyes. "He has a weak spot for his cousin..." Xemnas mumbled to himself, thinking of any way to which exploit such a weakness in his favor until it came to him. He snapped his fingers as it dawned upon him."We'll send him ashore with his cousin."

Saix frowned. "You think that would work?"

"He has a weak spot for his cousin. He's the type to look after Demyx no matter what." Xemnas shrugged. "We'll offer him a bit better deal, one that'll make it easier for him to look after his cousin. He'll take the bait, easy. But consider that our last resort, hopefully it won't come to the point when we'll have to include him into our plans."

"If Demyx does first, that is." Saix sighed.

"You doubt me?"

"Of course not." A quiet purr. "Master."

* * *

><p>"Demyx, get your ass back here!" Roxas flicked his tail, trying to cut off his cousin in the water, a task harder than originally thought. Eventually, with another abusing push of his tail muscle, Roxas was able to zoom past Demyx, throwing his arms out. Demyx finally came to a complete stop, breathing hard. "Stop! Now!"<p>

Demyx crossed his arms across his chest with an unhappy frown and narrowed eyes. "What?"

"What?" Roxas yelled back, mimicking his cousin as best he could. "What? What do you mean, what?" Roxas sighed, letting his head fall back with an exasperated sigh. "Demyx, I swear, one day I will kill you. You drag me from my chair, my book, and my food, screaming about a glowing blue stone!"

"Okay, I found a stone! This guy gave it to me, and it was glowing all blue and he said he wanted to make a deal with me!"

"Wait, wait, wait." Roxas nibbled on his bottom lip. "Demyx, no one makes good deals. When someone wants to make a deal, you always lose." A sigh. "Who was this guy?"

Demyx frowned, giving it a moment's worth of serious thought. "Saix."

Roxas' eye twitched slightly, the name was scratching at the back of his mind. The answer was on the tip of his tongue, something he couldn't quite reach no matter how hard he tried to force himself to remember. Where had he heard the name? Where had he read it, to be specific. He held out his hand. "Let me see this rock."

Demyx swam down to the sand, the place next to the large rock that looked like a head. Digging about in the sand, he finally uncovered a blue shine from the wet sand. Digging deeper, he plucked the glowing blue stone from its resting place in the sand. Smiling confidently, he held out the stone towards Roxas.

Roxas' eye widened. Yes, something about this stone was very important. Something he couldn't remember for the life of him! "Let me see..." Roxas reached out, his fingers inches from the stone. There was a loud popping sound, and Roxas immediately pulled away with a yelp. The tips of his fingers were burned, and pain coursed through his entire arm. Though his mind nor Demyx's was on the wellbeing of his hand, it was on the stone. The one that was beginning to glow, a ray of light being cast in a certain direction. West.

"Holy fuck." Roxas hissed, kissing his burnt finger tips. "What the hell was that?"

"Looks like only I can touch it." Demyx pointed out obviously, rolling the stone in his palm. "He said that when I made up my mind, the stone would take me the merman who could grant my wish."

"Wish?" Roxas glared accusingly at his cousin. "Dem, what wish?"

Roxas would not be please at the thought of Demyx having a wee crush on the legged one, and Demyx knew it.

"Just, I dunno, this wish."

"Dem, this can't be good." Roxas held out his hand again. "Give me that thing, I'm going to destroy it."

"No!" Demyx clutched the stone to his chest in a strong fist. "What if I need it?"

"Need it for what, Dem?"

"Granting my wish!"

"What wish? This is just stupid, Demyx, that guy was trying to trick you. It's just a stone reflecting the light from the surface, now give it to me. I'm going to get rid of it!"

"It's a guiding light! Demyx exclaimed, moving his hand through the water.. Although the stone moved, the ray of light pointed in the same direction. "I'm supposed to follow it to find them!" Before Roxas could say a word, Demyx had flicked his tail and was rocketing through the in the direction that the small ray of blue light was pointing.

"WAIT! DEMYX!"

* * *

><p>"Demyx, we need to go back! This isn't a good idea!" Roxas tugged at his cousin' arm. "Seriously, we have to go, now!"<p>

"Sure, Roxas. Go back and explain to my sister where the hell I disappeared to." Demyx turned to his cousin, but didn't stop swimming. "I dare you."

Roxas growled unhappily. He grit his teeth together so hard it gave him a faint headache. This boy would be the death of him. This stupid, stupid boy who he loved so so much. "I swear to God, Demyx…"

They'd been swimming for at least an hour; a slow pace that left Demyx jumpy and impatient and Roxas tired and breathing heavy. Depending on their locations, the light from the stone would point them in different ways, farther and farther away from the castle. And Roxas had a suspicion why.

Strong magic must be keeping this certain merman out of the kingdom. He could only assume that he'd been banished form Atlantis; this stone had taken them on a journey through dark waters and open ocean. It was only luck that Demyx and Roxas hadn't run into a shark or even larger predator already.

"Demyx, this is really dangerous, not to mention really stupid." Roxas again tried to appeal to his cousin, although Demyx had a mind set on following that goddamn stone.

"I need to know where it goes!"

"Why?"

"I just do!" Demyx snapped. Before Roxas could come up with some kind of logical response to the stupid statement, Demyx had stopped dead, and Roxas had collided painfully with his back. Roxas opened his mouth to snap in anger, until he saw why Demyx had stopped.

Before then stood a tall cliff face, far for the surface; Roxas hadn't even noticed how far down into the ocean they'd gone till now. The ray of light was stronger than ever, pointing into the mouth of a cave that lead into the cliff.

"Dem…" Roxas subconsciously reached out for his cousin's arm, his pale hand coming to rest on pale skin. "Dem, this doesn't look safe."

"Oh come on Roxas, don't be stupid." Demyx only shook his hand and carded a hand through his mohawk mullet. "Its just a cave."

"A cave in dark waters." Roxas whispered.

Demyx chewed his lip for a moment, clenching the stone tightly for the light to leak through his fingers, pointing towards the mouth of the cave. "I'm going in."

"Dem, don't be stupid!" Roxas gave his cousin's arm a harsh tug. "No, we're going home right now, Larxene's wrath be damned! We're going home!"

"No, Roxas, cut it out!" Demyx hissed, pulling his arm easily from his grip. "Look, I'm going in there, like it or not. Now will you come with me, or not?"

Demyx was already swimming into the mouth of the cave before Roxas could reply. Without a second thought, the blond following the first, cursing under his breath.

* * *

><p>AN: That was rough. I'm sorry if it got sloppy towards the ending. My mind was elsewhere, such as my other Kingdom Hearts fanfiction I have yet to begin; but I have a good idea for it. Anways, third chapter next, Going Ashore!<p> 


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